THE COKE OVENS OF COCHRAN ARIZONA by Mitch Waite
The town of Cochran, Arizona no longer exists. It is one of the small ghost towns in the desert, and is only marked by a few cement slabs and foundations of the buildings on the Gila River.
The interesting attraction of this old ghost town lies across the river to the north. There are five very well preserved beehive shaped ovens referred to as the Coke Ovens. These ovens are approximately thirty feet tall and have an inner diameter of twenty five feet. On the front side of each oven is an entry door used for loading mesquite wood into the oven. The base of the ovens is ringed with small breather holes which allow the flow of air to be governed to control the slow burn of the mesquite to produce coke. On the back side of the oven there are vents to remove the smoke away from the operations.
Coke is a much hotter fuel used to smelt ore from the local gold and silver mines; thus, allowing for the gold and silver to be purified prior to shipping on the rail line across the Gila at Cochran. Eventually, the mines “petered out” and the town was abandoned along with the coke ovens.
There are two methods to get to the Coke Ovens. One involves crossing the Gila River, but should only be attempted during low water flow periods using a raft, kayak, or floatation device. The other route of travel is by a jeep trail through a very rough box canyon and many miles of boulder strewn road. It takes a very good four wheel drive to attempt this drive. This may be one reason the Coke Ovens are still in very good condition.
The Coke Ovens are on State Trust land. They are located at 33, 09.193N, 111, 10.610W. Please help take care of these historical sites and take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but tracks.
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